The University of Tampa

Date: Sep 11 2010
Major: PreLaw and Legal (This Major's Salary over time)
Academically speaking, in my experience, the University is very good and the professors are friendly and helpful. The general education classes are pretty much averagely challenging; they're not "joke" classes, but they're not really too hard. The school's size is pretty nice; most professors actually DO care whether or nor you show up to class, they take roll, they get to know your name and they give a lot of weight to participation grades. Class sizes are relatively small and there's no aides teaching classes.

A large portion of the student body is made up of undecided majors from the northeast who seemingly only chose this school because of it's beautiful campus and warm location, but it doesn't really detract from the experience; the student body is generally very friendly, polite, open, etc. It doesn't matter if you're a huge partier or if you are strictly here for academics, if you put yourself out there just a little, you'll make friends quickly and easily.

The social activities on campus are somewhat few, there are some good events but they only happen occasionally (maybe one to three a week), therefore you really need to join student organizations for extra things to do. Also, you'll find plenty of things to do in the form of arcade games, ping pong, air hockey and foosball tables, etc. on campus. The night life in Tampa is just OK, there's some nice clubs and some bad ones, but even then the club "scene" is just OK. There's a lot of older (older than college students) people, for example. I'm not that into clubs in general so it didn't bother me either way, but weekends can get boring after awhile. Overall, Tampa is a nice city to live in.

The campus itself is fantastic. It's right on the river across from downtown, and the view is actually pretty beautiful, especially at night. There's some older dorms that I can't comment about, but I'm in Vaughn hall, a newer building with really big rooms, a theater where they sometimes show movies, multiple food venues including the cafeteria, the bookstore and an arcade. Plant Hall, the main building, is a beautiful Victorian-era hotel styled as a Moorish palace and a national historic landmark. They actively work to maintain the building, too, which is a plus. The campus is generally well groomed, clean, and nice looking, from decorative potted plants to huge, shady trees.

I wouldn't recommend this school to someone who's just looking for a fun college experience but is undecided on what they want academically. The fun aspect alone that you're looking for may disappoint, and it's a lot of money. However, if you're interested in the university from an academic standpoint as well as a social one, I would definitely recommend this university.